Better than I could've said it: Pandering to Hillary Supporters Edition

Steve Benen, Washington Monthly:

It's more than surprising; it's the strangest running-mate decision since Dan Quayle. Sarah Palin spent a year working as a commissioner for the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and has been governor for a year and a half. Now, she'll be the Republicans' vice presidential candidate, and if things go well for McCain, one heartbeat from the presidency. When it comes to being untested and unknown, Palin is in a league of her own.

Just yesterday, advisers to the McCain campaign conceded to the New York Times that McCain "thinks highly" of Palin, but "her less than two years in office would undercut one of the McCain campaign's central criticisms of Senator Barack Obama -- that he is too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief." So much for the McCain campaign's message.

Stepping back, we have the man who would be the oldest president in American history, who happens to have a record of health problems, picking a virtual unknown who's been a governor for less than two years. Amazing.

McCain communications chief Jill Hazelbaker told CBS News this morning that McCain is going to "make the choice from his heart." That seems even more bizarre - McCain barely knows Palin, hasn't worked with her in any capacity, and hadn't even asked her to serve as a campaign surrogate at any point in the process. For all the talk about McCain valuing personal relationships above all else, McCain has practically picked a stranger, to himself and the rest of the nation.

(Hat tip to Channel Surfing)

Better than I could've said it: letters edition

Haven't had the time to put together a coherent blog post in a while, so here are three letters published in the print media which said whatever I would have said, but said it better:

From Time Magazine:

The campaign outlined in "A Whole New McCain" is an insult to the intelligence of the American voter [Aug. 18]. When our military personnel are dying in foreign wars, McCain dares to raise Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to the level of a national political debate. With the U.S. facing an energy emergency, McCain jokes about tire inflation. When your 85-year-old mother loses her General Motors health benefits because GM can't sell cars, you want health-care solutions, not McCain's juvenile critique of Obama's European trip. Voters must demand solutions from those running for office--not fifth-grade political campaigns with playground sound bites. As a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, I find it disturbing that McCain has lost touch with reality.
Major Robert Tormey (ret.) escondido, CALIF.

I don't give a damn about any slight, perceived or otherwise, of Senator Hillary Clinton or her backers by Obama or his staff [Aug. 18]. America needs a Democrat in the White House. We need Obama's intelligence, his willingness to seek diplomatic solutions and his patience. Soothe your own bruised egos. Relax the clenched jaws. Pay your own bills. Above all other matters, work hard to get Obama elected in November.
John Gambardella CUNDLETOWN, AUSTRALIA

From The Times of Trenton:

The letter "Hightstown a haven for illegal aliens" (Aug. 19) is a poor assessment of the immigrant experience and is based on myths. Its writ er's arguments play on the politics of fear with words like "dishonest," "de ception" and "illegal criminal invasion," which distastefully demonize immigrants in an effort to support a recall election for Hightstown Mayor Bob Patten -- and that has nothing to do with immigrants. It seems to me to be a smoke screen over the real issue. The letter is an example of the type of rhetoric that impedes genuine discourse to solve a disagreement.
For starters, Mayor Patten supports the constitutional rights of all people. He has not established a "sanctuary" city, but rather has fos tered a culture of tolerance and opportunity for all Hightstonians.
Second, it is important to understand that no one supports illegal immigration, not even illegal immi grants. If the letter writer "encourages" legal immigration but does not support illegal immigration, then why not advocate to increase ave nues for legal immigration? I suspect that what bothers people is not the illegality, but the immigrant -- period.
The perpetrators are not the immigrants, but rather the outdated, broken, irresponsible and economically insensible immigration laws. If anyone is to be held accountable for the illegal immigration problem, it is our lawmakers who have consistently failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would address the writer's concerns -- and mine.
Finally, elected officials represent all those who live within their district. Just because people do not vote does not mean they don't have a voice. If that were the case, then large segments of our population (i.e. kids, legal residents, people on probation) would be unrepresented.
If we are genuinely interested in solving problems, let's talk without demonizing each other.
-- J. CARLOS AVILA, Trenton

Thanks, folks, for putting that into words. Well.

And so it ends

Not ready for the end of summer.

This fall brings big changes around our household in the Center of NJ. I'm going back to school. I've taken classes before, changed jobs before, and generally shook things up around here, but I still think nothing will prepare me for grad school and all I'm facing.

Overwhelmed, that's how I'd put it. Or, at least daunted.

So, we're taking it easy these last few weeks of summer. We did some outings with just me & the children, with Andrew's workfolks, and with mine. Finally had those friends over for dinner that we said for years we'd get together with but never got around to it before. Camped out in the backyard. Walked the dogs every night.

Tryin' to get in as much summer as possible, before it ends.

New, unnecessary addiction

It's raining on vacation today. Am now on Facebook. Am now addicted to Scramble. If you're not my Facebook friend yet, let me know and I'll add you so I can challenge you to a Scramble game.

I can only see the world in 4x4 grids of letters anymore.

Post more later, must play more Scramble now.

An FYI from the Mercer County Clerk

Register to vote and get your absentee ballots early for the Presidential election! (Especially if you're a college student in Our Fair State.)

The election is predicted to create a record surge in absentee ballot applications at the clerk's office this fall, (County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello) said.
"Do not wait until October to get your absentee ballot application processed if you are going away to college," said Sollami Covello, who expects her office will process over 12,000 applications. "Do it now before you leave for college and avoid unnecessary delays.
"In addition, if you have not done so already, do not wait until it is too late to register to vote. Both can be easily taken care of before you leave for college," she said.
The last day to register to vote in time for the presidential election is Oct. 14, and the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 28.

Check with your county clerk's web site to find out your specific phone number or address to get your absentee ballot or register to vote. You can find it here.

Lake Livin' in the Summertime, part 2

Lost spectacularly at poker- big and early. Played a lot of Werewolf. There are rumors of role-playing games in my future. I'm sure there are more games of all sorts coming.

Saw a great boulder field. Swam in a mountain lake. Took several steep walks. Had a lobster salad croissant that was out of this world. Drank much espresso and much homebrew, not at the same time. Let the kids play so much they're exhausted.

Drinkin' homemade limoncello. Listenin' to the blues. Enjoyin' the company.

I love me some Lake Livin'.

And I thought my cats were lazy

Meet Princess Chunky.

44 lb. Princess Chunky was found last Saturday in Voorhees. Her owner lost her home and set her adrift, but she must've not waddled far before she was found. The owner also claimes that Princess is a boy, but his/her weight is so high that that cannot be determined- a vet will have to figure it out.

Wow. I have three cats that could fit into that one.

The Fleecing of Hamilton and NJ: And the headline read...

Hamilton Stuck With Land

Does this surprise anyone? Anyone??

The state Supreme Court has decided it will not weigh in on Hamilton's agreement to buy Klockner Woods.
The court's action ends the appeal process by the township and a legal battle over one of the most politically contentious issues to grip the township in recent memory.
The high court's denial of a township petition on Friday effectively enforces a lower court decision ordering Hamilton to pony up the roughly $4.5 million it owes a developer for 51 wooded acres off Klockner Avenue.

The total comes to nearly $5 mil, when all is said and done. $4.1 purchase, nearly $800,000 in interest and another $30,000 in legal fees. Now, Hamilton has to face the music and come up with the money:

Mayor John Bencivengo did not rule out any scenario yesterday, including
selling the 51 wooded acres off Klockner Avenue or renewing applications for
grants or loans contingent on the land's preservation.
But regardless of what route Hamilton takes, it appears that property
owners in the township will be footing at least part of the bill.

The rest of it, non-Hamiltonians, may be paid by low-interest state loans and a grant from Mercer county- hence, why we were ALL fleeced on this ludicrous land deal.

However, the Hamilton taxpayers will be feeling it the most, and for a long time. For the sake of their wallets, I'm sorry this fight had to end like it did. For the sake of sanity, I bet everyone's damn glad it is finally ended.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

One week only! Joss Whedon et al. has done it again.

Disappears at midnight Sunday, 7/20/08. Read the master plan when you're done.

It'll be longer than just a moment of silence

Blanton's and Ashton's has hung it up.

Moving forward

Y'know that feeling when you have too much to do? So much that you can't even get started?

I got started today. At least it's something.

The Big Read- UPDATED!

From ktbuffy via jayananda:

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, *or not, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. (SEE UPDATE BELOW)

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Asterisk (*) the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
*4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
*5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
! 6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman $#%&!@
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
! 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
*25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
*37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
! 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
! 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
*58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
*60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
! 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
*68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
*78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
! 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
! 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
*94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I added another category - an ! in front of books that I started and either hated or they didn't hold my interest, so I didn't finish them. (In the case of #66 and #43, I got at least 3/4 of the way through and just dropped them.) I've been told to give #82 a second chance, and maybe I will. I think I was too young to appreciate #57 when I tried to read it- maybe it deserves a second chance, maybe on audio.

I also added a string of symbols after #9, which I did finish, and was so disappointed in that I was angry at the author and the time I wasted. Those symbols don't mean anything; I'm cursing Phillip Pullman out.

So, I've read 28 of them. Not bad, I guess, for a future librarian. How'd you do?

*- after Bob pointed out that I didn't post #44 and #51, I did some research to find them and cannot discover who made this list. It seems to be based on the list of the BBC's The Big Read, not the National Endowment for the Art's Big Read, which is an entirely different project. I did, however, find some posts with a complete list so I added those books back. So, it's not really based on an NEA project, but it's certainly someone's idea of fun. Still cool, huh?

If anyone finds proof that it's an NEA project, let me know and I'll correct again.

I know what I'm gonna do next weekend!

Belmar- Revelers in this Jersey shore party town can now legally drink from unregistered beer kegs and give people the finger.

Woo-hoo! Time to get liquored up and be rude!

"I'm not sure anyone even knew that making obscene gestures was illegal," Mayor Ken Pringle said. "Right after we send out our tax bills, I tend to see a few."

Same as every other Central Jersey town, I see.

Here's the real story:

One rule that's no longer on the books related to raising one's middle finger, or the many variants thereof. However objectionable it might be to some people, such a gesture is Constitutionally protected free speech, said Pringle, who is an attorney.
He said the borough was contacted by civil libertarians who questioned the legality of several municipal ordinances.
The ban on "obscene gestures," which never spelled out exactly what was and was not covered, was overly subjective, Pringle agreed. No one can recall anyone being prosecuted for violating it. Another law prohibiting people from loitering in alleyways also was axed.
And a beer keg tagging law, which Belmar enacted last year with great fanfare, withered and died after the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control said a handful of similar local laws enacted around the state requiring beer kegs to have the name, address and phone number of the person renting them was unconstitutional.

Let's just hope the bennies keep some modicum of self-restraint...

Freedom ain't free

Never let us forget that we are the land of the free only because we are the home of the brave.

Spc. Michael Edward Curtin, 23, Howell
Staff Sgt. Terry W. Hemingway, 39, Willingboro
Spc. Gil Mercado, 25, Paterson
Spc. Narson B. Sullivan, 21, North Brunswick
Spc. Kyle A. Griffin, 20, Emerson
Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, Roselle
Spc. Simeon Hunte, 23, Orange
Spc. Marlon P. Jackson, 25, Jersey City
Spc. Ryan Travis Baker, 24, Browns Mills
Spc. Marc S. Seiden, 26, Brigantine
2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin, 24, East Brunswick
Pfc. Bruce Miller Jr., 23, Orange
Spc. Adam Froehlich, 21, Pine Hill
2nd Lt. John T. Wroblewski, 25, Oak Ridge
Spc. Philip I. Spakosky, 25, Browns Mills
Spc. Christopher M. Duffy, 26, Brick
Sgt. Frank T. Carvill, 51, Carlstadt
Spc. Ryan E. Doltz, 26, Mine Hill
Sgt. Humberto F. Timoteo, 25, Newark
Sgt. Alan D. Sherman, 36, Wanamassa
Lance Cpl. Vincent M. Sullivan, 23, Chatham
Spc. Anthony J. Dixon, 20, Lindenwold
Capt. Michael Yury Tarlavsky, 30, Passaic
Spc. Yoe M. Aneiros, 20, Newark
Spc. Bryan L. Freeman, 31, Lumberton
Cpl. Marc T. Ryan, 25, Gloucester City
Pfc. Stephen C. Benish, 20, Clark
Spc. David P. Mahlenbrock, 20, Maple Shade
Lance Cpl. Brian P. Parrello, 19, West Milford
Spc. Alain L. Kamolvathin, 21, Blairstown
Cpl. Sean P. Kelly, 23, Pitman
Lance Cpl. Harry R. Swain IV, 21, Millville
Sgt. Stephen R. Sherman, 27, Neptune
Pfc. Min S. Choi, 21, River Vale
Maj. Steven W. Thornton, 46, with a Fort Monmouth-based unit
Maj. John C. Spahr, 42, Cherry Hill
Staff Sgt. Anthony L. Goodwin, 33, Mount Holly
Lt. Col. Terrence K. Crowe, 44, with a Lodi-based Army Reserve unit
Capt. James M. Gurbisz, 25, Eatontown
Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Sutherland, 33, West Deptford
Staff Sgt. Edward Karolasz, 25, Kearny
1st Lt. Dennis W. Zilinski, 23, Freehold
Pfc. Ryan D. Christensen, 22, Spring Lake Heights
Sgt. Clarence L. Floyd Jr., 28, Newark
Sgt. Matthew J. Fenton, 24, Little Ferry
Pfc. Vincent M. Frassetto, 21, Toms River
1st Lt. Ashley L. (Henderson) Huff, 23, Belle Mead
Lance Cpl. Christopher B. Cosgrove III, 23, Cedar Knolls
Pfc. Donald S. Brown, 19, Succasunna
Spc. Eric G. Palacios Rivera, 21, Atlantic City
Lance Cpl. Michael A. Schwarz, 20, Carlstadt
Pfc. Joe L. Baines, 19, Newark
Pfc. Eric R. Wilkus, 20, Hamilton
Cpl. Thomas E. Saba, 30, Toms River
Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin L. Sebban, 29, of South Amboy
Pfc. Miguel A. Marcial III, 19, Secaucus
Sgt. Michael R. Hullender, 29, Little Falls
Staff Sgt. Vincenzo Romeo, 23, Lodi
Sgt. Sameer A. M. Rateb, 22, Absecon
Staff Sgt. Joseph M. Weiglein, 31, Audubon
Spc. Farid Elazzouzi, 26, Paterson
Sgt. Eric L. Snell, 35, Trenton
Pfc. David J. Bentz III, 20, Newfield
Sgt. Trista L. Moretti, 27, South Plainfield
Spc. Kareem R. Khan, 20, Manahawkin
Staff Sgt. Jason M. Butkus, 34, West Milford
Lance Cpl. Jon T. Hicks, 20, Atco
Cpl. Terrence P. Allen, 21, Pennsauken
Pfc. Luigi R. Marciante Jr., 25, Elizabeth
Sgt. Eric J. Hernandez, 26, Waldwick
Lance Cpl. Curtis A. Christensen Jr., 29, Collingswood
Maj. Dwayane Kelley, 48, South Orange
Capt. Gregory T. Dalessio, 30, Cherry Hill
Spc. Ronald R. Harrison, 25, Mt. Olive
Staff Sgt. William R. Neil, 38, Holmdel
Cpl. Steven R. Koch, 23, East Brunswick

Happy Independence Day.

Lake Livin' in the Summertime, part 1

Relaxing on the shores of Lake Winnipesauke in New Hampshire this week with the spousal family.

Today, we're relaxing indoors while it rains. Yesterday, we were hiding out in the basement until the tornado warning passed. Then we played D&D until we were forced to stop to eat dinner, then again until we were forced to let the young people go to sleep.

The older two cousins played with Andrew and me. The younger two cousins really wanted to help, so they got to roll my dice for me. I kept trying to get them to go away to do somethng else while I was reading the flavor text; I wasn't sure how my sister-in-law would appreciate her younger kid hearing me explain how the players entered the sweltering hall full of blistered, diseased corpses and zombies. "Now that Uncle Andrew touched the dead body, he needs to roll a saving throw!" Luckily, no nightmares ensued.

Never a dull moment!

Art All Night in Trenton

Tomorrow at 3 PM through Sunday at 3PM, there will be Art all Night in Trenton! It's an indoor-outdoor show, in a former factory building and Millyard Park in the Chambersburg section of Trenton.

I'll be out of town, unfortunately, or I'd love to visit. I heard from a volunteer at last year's event that it's a great time as well as a great show. There's Art! and Music! and Food! and it's All Night! What's not to love?

Go. Have fun. Enjoy art in the 'burg all night.

"Equally indifferent to the suffering of all people"

That is correct, Wyatt.

Stupidest quote of the week

In Our Fair State, stupid quotes are pretty much the norm. However, it's already Wednesday, and I haven't seen anything to compare with the sheer silliness of this one from Sunday's Times of Trenton:

"Reducing the zones would have our children pass through a (phalanx) of drug dealers every day," said (Trenton) school board Vice President Alexander Brown. "This would bring drug trafficking 800 feet closer to our schools. Some legislators believe the zones have placed a hardship on drug dealers. To me, I say 'tough.'"

Yep! That's it! Legislators want drug dealers to have an easier time. That's the reason they want to reduce the size of the drug-free school zones and increase the penalties! Because our legislators just love the drug dealers!!

Or, it could be that the law targets minorities in our cities (where nearly every street is in a zone), unfairly chokes our prisons with non-violent offenders who could go to rehab, and hits offenders with two punishments for the same crime. Truly, if you think the penalty zone has restricted the amount of drug dealing in our cities, you had better check your facts.

At least some more logical minds had a few reasonable things to say:

"The Legislature is trying to address discriminatory practices," said Trenton board member T. Missy Balmir, referring to the study. "I think we need to be careful before we take a stand on this issue. I would like more information on how our city is truly affected by drug-free zones."
According to the commission, 96 percent of people jailed for dealing drugs within the zones are black or Hispanic. The commission argued two years ago that drug- free zones do not hinder drug sales near schools.
"If 96 percent of the people incarcerated under the drug-free zone law are black or Hispanic -- groups that only make up 20 percent of our state's population -- it's not a fair system," said Roseanne Scotti, director of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey.
"Plus, there is no evidence that drug-free zones hinder drug sales," Scotti said. "Basically, this law amounts to two different penalties being given for the same exact crime -- the only differences between the two penalties are geography and race."
...
"I think that's an economic drain for the state of New Jersey, among issues of fairness," said Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson- Coleman, D-Ewing, who has introduced a bill to keep the drug-free zones at 1,000 feet while giving judges more discretion in sentencing.
"Was the person dealing drugs to students? Was school even in session when they were arrested?" Watson-Coleman said. "The judge should be able to determine the impact on society, the appropriate remedy, and then sentence accordingly."

Imagine that- a judge being able to determine impact and a remedy. Um, dare I say?- to judge. Then maybe clearer-thinking heads will prevail.

No one is saying drug dealing is a good thing. What is being said is that it's time to revisit a failed drug policy- one of many in our country. Kudos to the legislators and school board members who took the time to find out the facts about the effectiveness of these policies. Hopefully they can come up with a more effective and maybe more logical plan of attack on those who would prey on our children.

Locally Grown 2008

Many of the farmer's markets in Central NJ are open or are opening soon! Susan Sprague Yeske gave us a rundown in a recent Trenton Times of many local markets. Here are the highlights, with some extra:

West Windsor Community Farmers Market -- Saturdays through October, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Vaughn Drive lot of Princeton Junction Train Station (southbound). (609) 577-5113
Lawrenceville Farmers Market -- Sundays June 8 through Oct. 28, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Lawrenceville Fuel, 16 Gordon Ave., Lawrenceville. (609) 206-0344
Hopewell Community Market -- Wednesdays through October, 2 to 7 p.m. near the train station, at Railroad Place off Greenwood Avenue in Hopewell Borough. (609) 466-8330.
Trenton Farmers Market -- Open year round; for the harvest season through October, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Located at 960 Spruce St., Lawrence. (609) 695-2998,
Sergeantsville Farmers Market -- Saturdays through September from 8:30 a.m. to noon on the township green on Route 604 Rosemont-Ringoes Road in Delaware Township. (609) 397-8768.
Liberty Village Premium Outlets Farmers Market -- Sundays through Nov. 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Liberty Village Shopping Center, off Route 12, Flemington. (908) 782-8550.
Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers Market -- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays at Dvoor Farm on the Route 12 circle in Flemington through October.
Burlington County Farmers Market -- 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the former Winner Farm at Hartford and Centerton roads, Moorestown. (609) 265-5020. June 14 through October.
Columbus Farmers Market -- Daily, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Route 206, one mile south of Columbus.
(609) 267-0400.
Montgomery Friends Farmers Market -- 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays from June 21 through Oct. 25 at the Village Shopper on Route 206, just north of Route 518.
Rutgers Gardens Farmers Markets -- Fridays 2 to 6 p.m. through Oct. 31 on the Rutgers Garden grounds on Ryders Lane in New Brunswick.
Franklin Township Farmer's Market -- Through Nov. 29, Sat. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at John's Plaza 720 Hamilton St. (Across from New Millenium Bank; Franklin Twp., Somerset County)
Bound Brook Farmers Market -- Sat. 9a.m.-2p.m. through October. At the NJ Transit Parking Lot on Main Street in Bound Brook.
West End Farmer's Market -- Every Thursday 12-6 p.m. June 5-December 4, Parking lot behind Jesse's Cafe & Catering at 139 Brighton Avenue in the West End Section of Long Branch
Freehold Farmers Market -- Tuesdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The American Hotel, 18 E. Main St., Freehold. (732) 946-9639. July to October.

Some of these, such as the Trenton Farmer's Market, have rules about only selling what you grow- but there's no guarantee for the rest. There are lots of "farmer's markets" and roadside stands where, if you look carefully, you can see the folks unloading fruit and veggies out of the same boxes they get at Shop-Rite! Be careful. Don't be afraid to ask where the produce is grown. If you want Jersey Fresh, speak up!

Buy local!

(crossposted from sfoodblog)

The Next Comic Book to Read

One-Eyed Jack.

Go. Now.